Set the mood with Desk Lamp

Desk Lamp gives your screen the cozy feel of working beside a real desk lamp. It’s still in preview, so it’ll keep getting better.

Turn it on

Open Settings → Desk Lamp and switch on Enable Desk Lamp.

Pick a preset

Under Ambiance, start from one of six lighting moods: Soft Candlelight, Midnight Oil, Nook Lantern, Gallery Spot, Golden Hour or Quiet Aurora, the default.

Make it your own

Every preset is just a starting point. Under Adjustments, you can change:

• Light Source: where the lamp sits. Choose Top-Left, Left, Top, Right or Top-Right.
• Color Temperature: from cool to warm light.
• Height & Spread: how wide the pool of light is.
• Vignette Dimming: how much the edges of the screen fade into shadow.

Switch it on and off

Use the Desk Lamp hotkey to turn the light on or off without opening Paperman. It’s ⌥⌘O on a Mac by defaultIt’s Ctrl + Alt + O on Windows by default, and you can change it in Settings → Hot Keys.

Only in dark mode

Switch on Turn on Desk Lamp Mode on Dark Mode only, and the lamp only lights up when your system is in dark mode. While it’s waiting for dark mode, the setting shows Paused — Daytime. Pair it with a Circadian Rhythm schedule to have the lamp come on every evening.

To skip the animation when the lamp turns on, switch off Animate lamp switching on.